Welcome
We are pleased that you selected this independent study course to fulfill your unique educational needs. You are now a member of the Center's large and diverse student body—a student body that comes from all parts of the United States and many parts of the world.
Although the freedom to choose when and where to study is a privilege, it is also a responsibility that requires motivation and self-discipline. To succeed at independent study, you will need to develop a study plan by setting realistic goals and working toward them.
Please contact the office of MU Disability Services if you need to arrange accommodations for completing your coursework.
Course Introduction
This course is an introduction to methods for writing short fiction for the beginning writer. Writing is a subjective, highly individual experience, but there are several strategies you can utilize to help you on your way. Reading is crucial to good writing, so this course incorporates readings throughout. The required text for this course, Writing Fiction, provides a solid introduction to various aspects of fiction writing and also includes short stories that illustrate the tools and techniques you’ll be learning. Responding to questions about the textbook will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the readings. Because this course focuses on writing, I will use many prompts from the textbook to give you ideas for writing your own short fiction and to help you integrate what you’re learning, and you will gain practice at daily writing by keeping a journal in the form of an online blog. There are no exams for this course. Writing short fiction is a creative act that, at times, requires dedication, self-discipline, humility and the willingness to take risks. This course will give you the opportunity to practice each.
Catalog Description: This course introduces basic narrative techniques, including writing original stories.
Time Limit for Course Completion: 9 months. All assessments must be submitted and graded within this time.
Course Keycode: 2312
Textbooks/Materials†
Required Textbook
- Burroway, Janet and Elizabeth Stuckey-French. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. (7th Edition). New York: Pearson Longman, 2007.
Supplemental Readings
- "Why Write, Anyway?" by Bret Lott, published in Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer's Life. New York: Ballantine Books, 2005, pages 27–43.
Note: A PDF of this essay will be provided with the lesson in which it is assigned; Before We Get Started is not a required textbook for this course.
† Materials used in connection with this course may be subject to copyright protection.
How to Study for this Course
The two main components of this course are writing and reading. In order to write well, you must read. Both of these activities take time. The most important strategy you can have for succeeding in this course is to give yourself TIME. You will need time to read, time to think about what you’ve read, time to write, and time to go back over what you’ve written. How busy are you? How much time can you set aside each day for this course? You will learn the most and your writing will improve the fastest if you are able to spend time every day on writing and spend time at least every other day on reading the textbook. How fast can you read and absorb information? Do you write quickly through each draft of a story, or are you slow and deliberate no matter what part of the story you’re working on? There is no “right” way to be a writer, but it is important that you know your way of writing and reading, and that you give yourself the time you need to do a good job.
Additional Study Hints
- Submit your first progress evaluation early. For university courses, a minimum of six weeks must elapse between the date you submit your first progress evaluation and the date you take your final exam.
- Know how you will be assessed. Look at the grading scale and read all the information on any assignments, projects, and exams.
- Review the exam information page before taking any exam. This page includes descriptions of the exam(s), if any, required for this course. Keep in mind that, unless otherwise stated on the exam information page, CDIS exams are supervised and must be taken at an approved site. Approved sites will be listed when you are prompted to request an exam during the course.
- Be able to do all lesson objectives. Learning is active, and courses at any level are often designed with objectives or actions that can be done as evidence that you have learned something. One advantage of independent study is that learning objectives are clearly written for each lesson.
- Review the hints for independent study. This is an independent study course and is likely different from other courses you have taken. Begin by reviewing these hints, which will help you adjust your computing and study habits so you will have the best chance of earning the grade you want.
- Download an "Independent Study Planning Sheet" (pdf) to track your progress. The number of lessons, progress evaluations, and exams will directly affect how long it takes to complete any given CDIS course. As you work through this course, check your schedule often to make sure you're on track. Keep in mind that all progress evaluations and exams must be submitted and graded within the course time limit.
About the Course Developer
This interactive or video content is only available online. This is a video introduction to the course from the course author.
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Writing is my passion. I love stories. I love reading them, hearing them spoken, and most of all, writing them. I started keeping a diary in first grade, chronicling friendships, crushes, the loss of my grandparents, and how much I loved soccer. By junior high, I was using daily life for material in my short stories, writing about characters who very closely resembled me and my friends. As I grew older, I had more experiences, like leaving home, attending college, getting married, having children, and parenting, and I was able to incorporate more of life into my stories. My stories matured and grew as I did, and writing has given me the opportunity to create worlds which eventually have led me back to understanding myself and my own world a little better.
As a writer, the most important thing I do—after writing—is read. I read many hours every day. I am a student of writing, as every writer is, because I am always learning, changing, and experimenting. By reading other writers’ stories, I learn what is possible in fiction. I choose to read quality fiction because what I read challenges me to write better, reminds me how beautiful language can be, and, even if my own writing may not be going so well, gives me faith that the words will come if I keep writing.
I am nearing the end of my formal education as a writer. For the past six years, I have been working on an MA and a PhD in English–Creative Writing, Fiction, at the University of Missouri. During this time, I have taken many fiction workshops, written many stories, worked with brilliant authors, taught many writing classes, read hundreds of novels and short stories, and served as Fiction Editor for Center: A Journal of the Literary Arts and as Editorial Assistant at The Missouri Review. My years of experience as a writer and a reader, as well as my passion for both, bring me to the page again and again. This course is an opportunity for me to share my enthusiasm and knowledge with you, the beginning fiction writer, in hopes that it will provide guidance and sustenance as you begin your journey.
Technical Specifications
To complete this course, you will need access to a computer with a modern Web browser (see recommended browsers below), a working Internet connection (56k dial-up or broadband), word processing software, and disk space to save your work.
Recommended Web Browsers
- Windows: Internet Explorer (version 7 or 8) or Firefox 3.5.
- Mac OS: Safari 4 or Firefox 3.5.
Your browser should support graphics at a screen resolution of 800 × 600 or higher, run JavaScript (the browsers above do by default), and accept cookies, which are used solely to verify your login. This course has been designed to be accessible to all students, including those using assistive technologies.
Portions of this course may require Adobe Flash Player.
Word Processing Software
You will be required to upload documents in Word 97–2003 (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) format. These documents can be created in Microsoft Word or another office suite that saves in the .doc or .rtf format, such as the open-source OpenOffice or GoogleDocs online. The Center does not provide or support any word processing software; however, both OpenOffice and GoogleDocs are available free-of-charge at the above links.
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You may need to view PDF documents as part of this course.
Virus Protection
It is suggested that you have virus protection software on your system. Symantec AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan are recommended for PC users, and Norton AntiVirus is recommended for Mac users. Virus protection software will help to protect your system (and ours) against computer viruses. MU students can download virus protection software at the Division of IT software distribution site.
Begin Coursework
Starting with the first lesson, study the lesson's purpose, objectives, and commentary. Then complete the reading assignment and any recommended study activities. Take notes and make sure you understand all the material presented in the readings. Follow this procedure for each lesson. Complete progress evaluations and exams in the order they are presented in this course.